THE PERILS OF BIG HYDRO
SAFETY, LOCALS’ NEEDS GET SHORT-SHRIFT IN LAOS’ QUEST FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT
>> The collapse of a saddle dam in the XePian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project in Attapeu province in Laos on July 22, unleashed a massive volume of floodwater which inundated villages in the province.
It displaced some 6,000 people, with at least 27 people killed and many more missing.
The dam is one of many constructed to supply water for hydroelectricity projects under the Laos government’s dream to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia”, an ambition to use hydroelectricity as an engine for growth by exporting hydroelectricity to its neighbours, mainly Thailand.
The Lao government hopes the projects will lift its people out of poverty and elevate the country’s status from the designated Least Developed Country to developing country by 2020.
The country now boasts 46 hydroelectric power plants with 56 under way and is set to have 100 hydropower plants by 2020, according to Laos Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The catastrophe is a wake-up call for the Lao government to reconsider its ambitions and the sustainability of the projets under its policy.
The collapse sparked an outcry by NGOs worried about the plight of locals on the Mekong River. It also ignited concern by Laos about the quality of the dams’ construction.
“I have no problem with dams. But I’m concerned about the safety of the projects, that the quality of the dams may not be up to standard,” said Sakhone Douangphachanh, a 23-year-old university student.
In terms of quality, Laos was more confident about dams built earlier by the Japanese.
He said the government needs to get tougher on dam inspections.
“The government needs to emphasise the wellbeing of its people,” he added.
Mr Sakhone said the government should consider the livelihood of people who stand to be affected, compensation, as well as environmental and social factors, when it considers whether to approve a dam.
The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project is a joint venture of Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Pl, South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C) and Korea Western Power, and the state-owned Lao Holding State Enterprise.
It was set to be operational in 2019 with its electricity exported mainly to Thailand.
Since the incident, Thai netizens have been calling on Thai investors to take responsibility for the collapse as well as calling for inspections of the dams.
For Witoon Permpongsacharoen, director of the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEENet), said developers involved in the project need to take full responsibility for the damage caused.
“It doesn’t matter who pays first. They need to pay for the damage their project caused,” he said.
However, Mr Witoon is concerned that developers might dodge the bullet by negotiating with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), which will buy electricity from the project, to push the cost onto consumers in the long-run.
He said they can do so by disguising the damages in form of adding to the electricity price.
“If it is done in the long-term — 27 years as in the contract — we will never find out,” he said.
He said if this scenario happens, it will reflect a failure in the system especially in terms of transparency.
Mr Witoon underscores the question of transparency not only for the Lao government, but of Thai investors involved in the projects.
“We have warned society about this. Usually the project in Laos involves one purchaser with no competition, therefore no transparency and no governance,” Mr Witoon said.
He questions Thai investors especially major Thai banks involved in the construction of hydroelectricity power plants in Laos, especially regarding the standard of loans given to investors in the projects.
Mr Witoon said that what drives investment in these hydroelectricity dam projects is no longer Thailand’s need for electricity, as the country has enough domestic supply, but profits for investors and contractors involved.
Currently, Thailand’s Power Development Plan (PDP) is being revised after the latest update in 2015. It is expected the new PDP will come out soon.
The PDP draft is scheduled to be finished by September, which will create a blueprint for Thailand’s energy outlook for the next two decades.
The master plan can be revised any year, depending on factors such as focuses in types and sources of the energy and economic sentiment. According to the draft, by the culmination of the PDP in 2036, Thailand will import about 20% of its energy, a rise from 7% now.
Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphan said last month the revised PDP will open the energy sector up to new disruptive technologies that can enhance efficiency and secure the power generation system.
The new version will include renewable power from solar, hydro and waste-to-energy as well as new electricity generation from a power storage, he said.
A source who asked not to be named said that while there are committed energy purchase agreements coming, Thailand is considering a delay in making another agreement as it is looking at changing trends in power demand and usage.
A report by the Mekong River Commission Council found that in the long run the construction of dams both on the Mekong River and its auxiliaries will not be sustainable for the environment and for the countries on the Mekong River.
It suggests that countries in the Mekong basin divert their sources of energy to other kinds of renewable energy rather than building hydroelectric power plants.
Meanwhile, NGOs have long questioned the transparency and impacts of the projects.
International Rivers, an NGO working on the protection of water resources around the world, pointed out that under Laos’s new Policy on Sustainable Hydropower Development, the government requires all large hydropower projects to produce an environmental impact assessment and Environmental Management Plan.
It also promises that communities affected by the project will be consulted and that the rights of all affected people will be protected by resettlement and social development plans. However, those ideals are often not turned into reality, as the rights of affected people and communities were often overlooked, he said.
Wanting to diversify its economy from a heavy reliance on mining, the Lao government looked to its mountainous typography and abundant water resources to turn itself into the “Battery of Southeast Asia”.
From 1970 onward, hydropower plants started popping up along the auxiliaries of the Mekong River. The government likes the hydropower plants because they attract foreign direct investment and it can earn foreign exchange through the exported electricity.
Farmland, paddy fields, and forests are often inundated or turned into reservoirs as the dams are built, which affects the livelihood of the Lao people who rely mainly on agriculture and fishing.
The dam projects in Laos have often been criticised for a lack of public participation as villages were relocated on the whim of the government, observers said.
Notwithstanding the criticisms, the Lao government is forging ahead with its plan and continues to expand its generating capacity. Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirath said that by 2020 Laos will have 100 hydroelectric power plants with generation capacity of 28,000 MW and able to generate 67,000 million kilowatts of electricity.
The country expects to export 9000 MW to Thailand by 2025, 1500 MW to Cambodia by the same year, and 5000 MW to Vietnam by 2030.
Laos has signed 357 MOUs with domestic and foreign companies to facilitate the capacity to generate 115,118 million kilowatts to fulfil its battery dream, according to the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Last week, the torrent of water unleashed in the dam collapse drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers last Thursday battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after villages were washed away.
Floodwaters also reached Vietnam, devastating race paddies.
The breach of Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam in southern Laos that killed dozens of villagers, with several still missing, should be a wake-up call for Thai authorities who this week issued disaster warnings while rolling up their sleeves for possible incidents. The weathermen predict further rainfall in almost all regions today and tomorrow and there will be even more to come. Army chief Chalermchai Sitthisad instructed his troops to be ready to give help to those who are affected by floods.
In Kanchanaburi, home to the huge Srinakarin and Vajiralongkorn dams, with respective storage capacities of 17,745 and 8,800 million cubic metres, the deputy provincial governor told district chiefs to prepare safe areas for residents in case evacuations are needed due to severe mudslides and flash floods.
One disaster came early, a week ahead of the dam tragedy in Laos, villagers in Nan’s Bo Klue were hit by mudslides that killed eight and injured many. Those remaining were later evacuated to safe areas.
In fact, over the past few years, the country has experienced extreme weather patterns that have sadly resulted in the loss of lives and property.
Last year several areas were hit by rain-induced inundation, in addition to the seasonal flooding that results from high tides and discharges from the northern region.
Many still remember a flood in Sakon Nakhon province following heavy storms in July last year. The situation got worse after a massive amount of water was discharged from the Huay Sa Khamin reservoir. Nine people, including a rescue officer, were drowned while 13 districts and parts of the adjacent Nakhon Phanom were severely damaged. There were allegations that the ageing reservoir might have breached but the Irrigation Department never admitted to it. It merely said some damage had occurred to the reservoir’s structure. It’s unfortunate there was no probe into the case.
This year, the forecast has triggered wide concern after the Irrigation Department said earlier this week that several reservoirs are close to capacity.
The government set up a joint task force centre at the Irrigation Department where officials analyse information on the situation at reservoirs nationwide around the clock. There are reports that 11 major dams need to be monitored as they are expected to reach their limits in one month. Of them, two large dams — the Nam Oun dam in Sakon Nakhon and the Kaeng Krachan dam in Phetchaburi — are almost full or about 80-90% of capacity and need to be drained at a faster rate.
As a country so severely affected by the problem, Thailand cannot afford to do nothing.
The warnings and preparedness show responsiveness on the part of government officials dealing with natural disasters and public safety but they are hardly enough. All the measures appear passive as they are mostly based on a “wait-andsee” principle.
Extreme weather patterns require comprehensive measures to prevent losses. For example, district and sub-district offices should be instructed to map out the most disaster-prone areas so that officials can take action in a proactive way. Steep areas should be given priority and the responsible agencies should be able to colour-code the alert, red, yellow or orange when a storm hits.
Besides, these measures there should also be a review of plant promotion by the state as some natural disasters can be exacerbated by the choices of flora and fauna in a particular region.
The promotion of rubber farming by the Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Ministry which expanded to several provinces in the northeastern region over the past years is a good example of this.
Under the policy, this kind of plant was grown indiscriminately in some questionable spots like hilly areas in several northeastern provinces, especially Loei which has high terrain, for example. It is well known that rubber plants have no primary roots and planting them on slopes puts the area at high risk of landslides such as those suffered by the people of Katoon, in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Phipun district in 1988.
That tragedy hit after days of torrential rain triggered fatal mudslides from Khao Luang mountain, which had been covered with rubber plantations.
Several hundred rubber trees were uprooted and mixed in with the sliding mud, burying the villages.
More than 100 residents were killed and it took years for the village to recover from the damage caused. The state should know that with such extreme weather patterns, Thailand cannot flirt with policies that only increase the risk of catastrophe.
More importantly, the Meteorological department must be become more efficient and issue relevant weather warnings, so other agencies can act swiftly on the information.
At a policy level, it’s time Thailand considered measures to tackle climate change, even if it’s still not bound by the climate agreement. As a country so severely affected by the problem, Thailand cannot afford to do nothing.